Take Your Retail Business To The Next Level With These 4 Top Tips

Retail businesses are arguably the most popular type of business in the world. They’re the stores and shops that sell us all those products we use every single day, and they would be hard to live without!

So, if you run a retail business, you’ll have to keep it super organised. Keeping stock in check, verifying products and keeping payments secure are just some of the things you’ll need to do. It can be a daunting task, but like any difficult proposition, can be made easier with these four top tips.

So, if you’re in the retail sector and are looking for some killer advice, you are in the right place!

Ditch paper receipts

Business-related expenses can be scanned in other ways rather than just accepting a paper slip. For a retail business, you’ll have a ton of these from all the different produce and equipment you need to buy. Consider using a mobile app such as Neat Receipts to keep track of expenses in a more streamlined way.

Additionally, you should ditch those paper receipts from your till. I’m not talking about the customer facing ones; rather, the ‘till roll’ that you’ll need to extract from your till every night. Invest in an EPOS system to track all your sales digitally rather than having to scan a huge receipt at the end of the day. Plus, reducing paper usage helps the environment. Win/win.

Organise product inventory with barcoding

Depending on the size of your retail business, you could have hundreds of different products that need to be kept organised. Using barcodes is a great way to give each product its own identifiable code, rather than physically keeping track yourself.

For example, if you sell mugs in two different colours (blue and red) and sizes then you’ll need:

A blue, small barcode

A blue, large barcode

A red, small barcode

A red, large barcode

This way, you can see which product gets sold more easily, and when. You can also keep track of how many you have left in stock. This saves having to count boxes manually.

Invest in contactless payment systems

Retail stores usually feature frequent queues, which slow down the day and frustrate customers. If you’re not yet aboard the contactless bandwagon, consider doing so immediately. It allows your customers to pay by simply scanning their card over a reader.

Apple device users can even pay using their iPhone or iPad. The transaction time is shortened, and your customer can get on with their day a lot quicker. You’ll be able to serve more people each hour too, a great tactic for boosting daily income.

Keep your storefront neat and tidy

There’s nothing more off-putting for a shopper than an untidy storefront. If you line up your products in a fashion that makes sense and is easy to navigate, you can drive sales a lot quicker. For example, place the cheaper, more common products near the tills to promote impulse buying. If a customer is waiting in line to be served, they’ll be gazing at the products next to them and are likely to pick one up.